POST-HOLIDAY CLEANUP PLANNED AT 4 BEACHES

Volunteers are scheduled to converge on four beaches in San Diego County on Friday to help pick up trash, cigarette butts and other items left over from Independence Day celebrations.

The annual “Morning After Mess” beach cleanups are set to take place from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Ocean Beach Pier, Belmont Park in Mission Beach, Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach and the South Harbor Jetty in Oceanside.

All of the events are hosted by the nonprofit Surfrider Foundation, in conjunction with two other nonprofit organizations — San Diego Coastkeeper and I Love a Clean San Diego. The sponsors are KPRi and Clif Bar & Company.

“We saw a need for additional help to target the pollution that gets left on our beaches after a busy holiday,” Surfrider chapter coordinator Haley Haggerstone said of the annual event, which started about six years ago.

Participants will collect trash, including bottles, plastic bags, lawn chairs and even the marshmallows scattered during the annual marshmallow fight at Ocean Beach.

The more than 500 volunteers who turned out for last year’s “Morning After Mess” event collected 2,607 pounds of trash, 559 plastic bags and 13,200 cigarette butts, along with 191 pounds of recyclables, according to the Surfrider Foundation. The figures for previous years have been similar.

Surfrider coordinators said they will provide bags and gloves for participants, but they encourage people to bring their own reusable bags, buckets and gloves whenever possible.

Volunteers who are younger than 18 must have a parent or guardian sign them in.

Preregistration isn’t required, but those interested in participating can sign up ahead of time at
sandiego.surfrider.org. Look for the “upcoming events” tab and click on the “Morning After Mess” event notice.